Darkness
by CrackTales
Summary: Ripped away from her parents, Lucy is forced to suffer in the dark for years until he comes to save her. But will he catch her before she falls into the darkness once more? LALU Rated M
1. Chapter 1

**Darkness - Chapter 1**

 **A/N:** Hi! So this is a story from my old account but I re-wrote some parts of it and I think y'all will love it!

 **Enjoy!**

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"Mommy!" A young girl screamed as she backed into a corner, attempting to make herself as small as possible to hid from the brooding men who advanced on her small form. This was how it always was, but this time seemed different, these weren't the usual men she saw. No. . . But this time her mother here and she could stop it! Probably. The girl had faith in her mother, proved by how she continued to scream for her as the men closed the distance between her and them, their cloaks sliding on the floor behind them. They were just playing with her now, shown by how slow they were walking as they closed in on her, provoking her to completely curl into a ball, whimpering and having no more strength left to call for her mother as fear radiated off her shaking form.

"Lucy!" Shouted a furious woman as she opened the door to her daughter's room, responding to her daughter's pleas for help. She took one look at the scene in front of her and her eyes widened a fraction before narrowing dangerously at the men closing in on her helpless daughter. Indescribable rage took over her features as she ripped her dagger from the sheath attached to the waist of her dress and sprinted forward wildly. Lucy whimpered and shook as two men grabbed Layla from behind and grabbed the dagger from her hand, holding her back. The third man continued to advance on her, so close she could smell his disgusting breath.

Another whimper escaped Lucy's lips as the man grasped her wrist and yanked her to to her feet, throwing a glace at Layla's unpractised moves in an attempt to save her daughter. He grinned as she was thrown to the floor and a knife held to her neck, her blonde locks in the hands of the second man, using it as leverage. Then, with a slight nod of his head, and a swift movement of the man's wrist, Layla's blood was spilled to the floor, making Lucy give out a strangled cry as her knees gave out. With a growl, the men grabbed Lucy as she stared down at her mother's corpse, heart-breaking sobs escaping her mouth, and dragged her out of the window, dropping down into the bushes before her father came to investigate the distressed cries from his wife and daughter. As expected, once they left, a shout and a strangled cry was heard from a distinctly male voice as he dropped to his dead wife's side, resting his knees in the pool of blood of crimson blood that surrounded her. Lucy's wide eys turned to her captors, who dragged her into the dark streets, moonlight shining down upon them.

She tried falling to her knees in an attempt to slow them down so someone could hear her cries, but apparently that didn't work and all it granted her was a rough kick to the abdomen by the irritated men before she blacked out and the darkness consumed her, welcoming her.

* * *

"Laxus! Get your ass over here!" Demanded a powerful red-headed mage as she glared over to the corner where the lightning mage sat, sending a vicious shiver down his spine as her stared seemed to burn a hole through him.

"What do you want demon?" He shouted from the other side of the guild hall, still not wanting to move from his table where he comfortably sat with his team, drinking beer. Said 'demon' growled at his blatant disrespect and equipped a sword from her vast inventory, already thinking of the different torture methods she could use once she subdued him. Sensing the imminent threat emanating from Erza, Laxus shivered again, more violently this time, and got up, abandoning his pride with the stomach he left at the table with his team.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Laxus?! Driving out guild members just because you think they're weak? I thought you knew better! Much better than to get rid of people with so much potential." Erza shouted at him, brandishing her sword dangerously close to his face as she ranted, forcing Laxus to flinch back so as not to wound his face.

"This guild doesn't need the weak to bring it down." He stated simply, turning and walking out of the guild hall, leaving Erza to stew in her own rage and the rest of the guild hall in disbelief as Erza took out her anger on Natsu and Gray who knocked her during their brawl. In an instant, his team was by his side, walking alongside him with frowns on their faces due to the outburst Erza just had. Bickslow and his 'babies' cackled as soon as they reached the edge of town, the serious look on their faces forgotten as they left Magnolia and no longer were the townspeople staring at the S class mages. Evergreen reprimanded him as she saw the irritated look on their beloved leader's face whereas Freed just shook his head at the duo while Evergreen beat Bickslow with her green fan.

"There's a job for us to do, Laxus." Stated Freed as Evergreen and Bickslow continued to bicker childishly, "It's to capture a rising dark guild on the outskirts of Shirotsume Town. Apparently all the mages are at least our level so it should be a good fight for you to handle Laxus, considering your strength and power." At this point, both Evergreen and Bickslow were snorting with laughter over Freed's choice of words.

"Nice Freed, kissing his ass again." Bickslow chortled while Freed's expression turned indignant and a pink blush spread across his face.

"I was not! I was complementing him! You should do it too, He's our leader!" Freed retorted with a burning face as Evergreen continued to laugh whereas Laxus looked disinterested. As they continued their bickering, Freed joining the fray, Laxus grabbed the discarded job request on the floor. Quickly scanning it before seeing the reward of $6000000 jewels, Laxus zapped the trio with his lightning making them stop their bickering and shriek in surprise before looking to Laxus, who teleported them to the border of Shirotsume

* * *

Lucy cried silently as she sat in the dark, she had no idea how long she'd been there, only that as soon as her celestial magic replenished, it was stolen from her once again. It was agonising, she was only able to guess how long she'd been there from the changes in her body and how often she's given food. But this time, it seemed like forever since she was last fed, and it's killing her, literally.

She felt like her stomach was eating itself and she could guess she had gone about three days without food, or water. Her tongue was numb and dry, her throat scratchy and painful and overall she felt terrible. Lucy had already guessed that she had been there for about seven years and honestly, she was sick of it. She often wondered why they neglected to bring her food or water, considering they seemed to think she was special in some way. However, the fact that she was precious did nothing to stop them from torturing her.

Then, Lucy began to hear sounds coming from above her, meaning she was underground after all? Then Lucy curiously began to stare at the ceiling, as if the sounds would get louder and she'd be able to hear them clearer. However, it's not like she could actually see what was happening up there anyways, having thought this, Lucy laid back down on the little hay bed in the corner of the roomand fell asleep, falling into the darkness once more.

* * *

"Lightning Dragon's Roar!" Bellowed Laxus as a pillar of pure electricity shot from his mouth and bombarded into the dark mages who stood before him, effectively knocking them to the ground and subduing them to a twitching, steaming mess.

"Dark ecriture! Pain!" Freed shouted as he cast his runes on the people surrounding them, also knocking them to the floor into a screaming, quivering mess. He looked over at Laxus and grinned in triumph as Laxus nodded his head in acknowledgement, making Freed blush slightly as a pink hue took over his cheeks.

"Fairy Machine Gun! Leprechaun!" Shouted Evergreen with a fierce look in her eye as hundreds of small light bullets shot from her palm and subdued the leering men who opposed her, forcing them all to dive to the floor and get impacted by her attack.

"Babies! V formation!" Bickslow cackled as all of his totems arranged themselves into a 'V' shaped and shot individual beams of light out of their bodies, combining into one attack to leave his opponents a burnt and shivering mess, much like Laxus'.

"Lightning Dragon's Sparking Fist!" Shouted Laxus as he encased his hands in lightning and attacked the last dark mage in the guild hall, the Master. His fist connected and the large, bulky man flew across the room and buried himself into the wall, knocked out.

"Dang, he's gonna feel that in the morning." Bickslow said with his tongue hanging out of his mouth, in the middle of tying up his enemies, ready for the council to collect.

"Shut up Bickslow." Laxus grunted as he sniffed the air, searching for another potential fight. The sweet scent of strawberries and vanilla invaded his nose, making his eyes widen and then sniff the air desperately in an attempt to catch the scent again. Having found the scent, he followed the trail to wherever it originated until the coppery scent of blood began to burn his nose slightly, making him scrunch up his face and shake his head violently.

"Laxus?" Freed called as he watched his leader go down the stairs to what seemed like the basement of the guild hall and made to follow him, Evergreen and Bickslow not far away as they descended the steps into what looked like a dungeon-like place.

* * *

Lucy, now hanging from the wall as the guard came in to chain her to the wall while they went to investigate the noises coming from upstairs, shivered as cold bit at her porcelaine skin. Once, Lucy had been chained to the wall for three straight days while they left all the lacrima lights off. Top be honest, she welcomed the dark, it was more of a reprieve to her, the only time she was able to be at peace. However, that was nothing compared to the punishment she received when she actually did something wrong, like struggle or speak disrespectfully towards the Master of the guild, the gashes on her front and back proof of this. Then, as if someone had pushed a button, pain lanced through her body, having been electrocuted by the chains. The chains had a soul link to the master so, whenever he feels like she is no longer of use to him, he would have the ability to murder her. He had threatened her with this form of punishment before but she had done nothing to warrant her death so she didn't understand the reasoning behind this attack.

Lucy's thoughts were brought to a halt as she screamed while her body twitched in pain and pure agony reverberated through her body as she felt her heart slow, before coming to an abrupt halt.

As Lucy inhaled her last breath, and as her screams ceased, light flooded into her cell, as if some unearthly creature had heard her plea for the pain to stop, and four figures came into view, none of them seeming like the guards who usually guarded her. Lucy allowed her last breath to escape her, tears filling her eyes as she watched them all file into the cell. Unable to make out what they were saying, Lucy succumbed to the darkness and began her long tumble into the abyss as her body quivered and twitched still.

"Freed! Do something!" Laxus shouted as he rushed to the blonde's side, unable to hear a heartbeat. He looked over to Freed who broke out of his stupor and pulled out his rapier, pointing it at the chains. He drew some runes and the metal cracked before disintegrating and allowing the girl to fall into Laxus' arms. Laxus laid her gently on the ground and placed his hands directly over her heart, letting a small charge of electricity enter her chest and he began to perform CPR, pushing down on her chest over and over before reluctantly placing his mouth over hers and breathing a large breath of air into her lungs. Laxus repeated his actions multiple times before the blonde sucked in a deep breath of air and her heartbeat returned, however faint it might be. Laxus sat back and grunted, looking down at the girl's distressed face as she slept.

"Let's get out of here, it stinks." Laxus stated, removing his coat and wrapping it around the small blonde, lifting her into his arms before walking past his awestruck team members and exiting the cell, unable to look at the blood stained walls and floor, or breathe in the scent of blood any longer.

"Damn, man." Bickslow said as he whistled before turning to follow his leader up the stairs, Evergreen and Freed following suit, awestruck.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail!**

 **A/N:** Sorry this chapter took a while ':) I was trying to balance my English essay with writing this :P

Enjoy!

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Lucy woke with a start, whimpering slightly as she felt her aching muscles jolt and her stomach cramp in pain from not having much food. Her vibrant blonde hair was dulled after hours of torture and her skin was clinging to her bones after the malnourishment she's endured. Lucy's chocolate brown eyes darted around her, finding herself in a forest and being carried a tall blonde who seemed to be about twenty years old, she quickly snapped her eyes shut and pretended to sleep as she finally noticed the muscular arms wrapped around her knees and her back. He was carrying her bridal style as three people chatted aimlessly around the two blondes. Lucy could make out two male voices, one seeming quite refined and the other deep and sarcastic. There was also a female voice who seemed quite haughty yet refined also as she argued with the two males. Lucy slowly opened her eyes to take a peek at the four people, and, seeing them, she no longer felt scared.

The male carrying her had a lightning shaped scar over his right eye and sound pods over his ears with a scowl to complete his overall sour appearance. Looking over at the other three, she could tell them all to be very powerful as she took in the brunette who, in her opinion, was very beautiful and princess-like, the long green haired male was walking next to the brunette, portraying himself as more like a prince than a common man. Lucy then looked to the final person in the group who seemed out of place next to the other two, but still managed to fit in, laugh and joke with the two, making Lucy smile slightly as she saw the bonds between the three, making her wonder where the tall blonde fit in.

"Blondie! Blondie!" A small wooden creature said as it flew into her field of vision, startling her and making her flail her arms and legs and fall out of the blonde's arms and, due to her struggling, the coat she was wrapped in slipped and exposed the rags she wore which were barely hanging on, making her feel vulnerable as their curious gazes landed on her frail form. Lucy grunted as she landed on the floor, rocks jabbing into her arms and legs creating small cuts that stung like a bitch. The team of four stood over her as she attempted to make herself as small as possible while crawling away from the looming figures. Standing as one over her, one large force that threatened to flatten or blind her with their light. The brunette stepped forward and held out her hands to Lucy. Lucy, expecting a blow to the cheek, flinched back and covered her face, her fourteen-year old form becoming a quivering mess under the brunette's gaze. However, all she did was smile gently but kindly, her eyes crinkling slightly as she held her stance, not withdrawing her hand. Lucy stared at her hand in scrutiny before cautiously offering her, much smaller, hand.

As the brunette pulled her to her feet, the two others sat on the side-lines smiling kindly at her while the tall blonde looked on with a slight frown on his face before retrieving his coat from the floor and placing it back over her shoulders, fastening the front as Lucy leaned on the brunette who had offered her shoulder to steady the blonde and almost felt bad for it as they started walking and the coat dragged along the floor, creating small rips in the fabric and lining the bottom of it in dirt.

"So what's your name Blondie?" The goofy man said with his tongue hanging out of his mouth with no shame and the little totems dancing around his head. Lucy opened her mouth to speak but found she couldn't as her throat finally announced its condition and only a garbled croak escaped her mouth. Lucy covered her mouth and coughed furiously, hoping to clear her throat in embarrassment as the totems stopped their dancing and stared in her direction.

"Here you go miss." The green haired man said, handing her a bottle of water and a sandwich. Lucy looked in awe at the sandwich bursting with meat and salad and the clear water in the bottle that beckoned to her in the form of ripples. Lucy nodded in thanks at the teen, a large smile splitting her face as he took the water and sandwich from her hands and the group came to rest at the side of the dirt road, out of the way of carriages and magic vehicles. Lucy gratefully sat down on the grass and sipped at the water, savouring the soothing feeling which affected her throat. Lucy then continued on to ravenously eat the sandwich, having a second one when Evergreen offered her half of hers, an act of kindness that made the blonde smile even wider at the group, still cautious of the brooding man who ate his food in silence, having six sandwiches to himself.

"Thank you..." Lucy said quietly, her voice husky and raw from the screaming from earlier. The group didn't seem to hear her other than the blonde who looked up from his food.

"Your welcome Blondie." He said gruffly, making the group turn to them and smile at both blondes, nodding in acknowledgement before continuing their conversation and joking around with each other once Lucy looked away from their gazes. Then, Lucy finally took a look around - a real look - and noticed that they were in the middle of nowhere and she had no clue as to where they were headed, concerned, Lucy quickly scanned through her memories of the past when she used to go on trips with her mother and father and still couldn't pick out where they were. However, considering the fact that they are in a forest and trees tend to look the same, Lucy shouldn't be surprised of her discovery.

"Where... Are we going?" Lucy asked tentatively after taking another sip of water, and this time all four of them heard her almost whispered question even with all the boisterous laughter. They all turned to look at her and then smiled, deep emotional smiles that seemed to tell a story in themselves. Curiously, Lucy cocked her head and asked again, this time earning a productive response.

"Okay, first, what's your name?" Evergreen asked with a small, lady-like smile on her face.

"Lucy." The blonde replied quickly, eager to know where they were headed.

"Okay, Lucy, our names are Freed, Bickslow, Laxus and I'm Evergreen." She said, gesturing to each of them in turn. "And we're going to Fairy Tail." Lucy's eyes widened and then she finally took a good look at the people in front of her, seeing the green mark on Evergreen's chest, the green mark on Freed's hand and the black mark on Bickslow's tongue. Lucy's mouth twitched into a small sad smile as she remembered all the stories her mother had told her about the Fairy Tail guild. She used to read magazines, especially 'Sorcerer Weekly' and would sometimes watch them on the lacrima vision.

"Yea... I know... My mother used to-" And then Lucy stopped herself, her memories warping into that night and then all she could see was crimson. The crimson blood that seeped out of her mother's neck, her mother's beautiful, white dress stained a deep red and the pink carpet now a pool of red blood. She remembered the scream her mother made while trying to protect her... All those years ago, and the dagger... the one that, with just a flick of someone's wrist, ended the precious life of her mother before she could do anything to help her. Then, she saw the blackness, filled with screams and torture and those cell walls... The chains that hung from the walls, the dripping blood from the ceiling and the many other children that were there, disappearing one by one. Murdered.

An ear-splitting scream filled the clearing and the four Fairy Tail members covered their ears as they stared in horror at the girl before them. She seemed so... utterly.. broken. She was clasping her head in her hands as she seemed to be able to see something they couldn't and her eyes look haunted, dead almost, like she wasn't even there with them. Evergreen was the first to move forward and gently touched her shoulder, snapping her out of her trance where her feelings overwhelmed her and she burst into tears, her small figure shaking uncontrollably as she fell to the floor and curled into a ball, passing out.

"Oh Lucy..." Evergreen said, looking down at the small blonde who laid asleep, tears streaking her pink cheeks. "What happened to you?" Bickslow, Freed and Laxus stepped forward, putting their hands on Evergreen's shoulders, Laxus going to pick up Lucy while Freed picked up the water bottles.

"Let's go to the guild." Laxus said, not looking at the petite blonde in his arms, keeping up with his tough exterior s he carried Lucy bridal style, showing no sign of fatigue as he lead the group down the road. As Laxus walked, he rocked Lucy slightly, calming her panicked state and soothing her steady stream of tears which, eventually, stopped.

* * *

"Arriving in Magnolia shortly." Said a robotised voice from a speaker as Lucy awoke, the darkness of the night was all she could see outside the window and small raindrops sliding down the glass. She looked to her right and found three of the Fairy Tail members asleep, while Freed, who sat next to her with Evergreen leaning on his shoulder, silently read a book. Lucy noticed she had been bandaged and dressed in a green, floral sundress and guessed they must have stopped at a hospital to care for her injuries. Lucy then grew worried as she remembered the deep gashes that littered her back, accompanied by many scars. They must have seen them, no doubt about it. Tears began to form in Lucy's eyes, blurring her vision before she was nudged by Freed who directed a worried gaze in her direction.

"Are you alright? What's wrong Lucy?" He asked politely but cautiously as a tear fell from his Lucy's eye.

"Did you see my back?" Lucy asked quietly, careful not to wake the three who slept peacefully around them. However, she already knew the answer to the pointless question she asked. She could tell they were just going to think of her as ugly considering she did not have the porcelain skin of Evergreen and she was not perfect like her, Evergreen probably has a beautiful mind as well but hers was soiled and dirtied by her past and possibly her future.

Freed nodded slowly but then spoke, "Yes, we bandaged it up for you after stopping at the magic shop in Shirotsume to buy some ointment. We're almost at Magnolia now." Lucy bit her lips as she tried to suppress her tears, embarrassment taking over her face. Noticing this, Freed continued, "You have nothing to be ashamed of, all of us have scars. Be it on our physical skin or in our minds. Yours are just slightly more prominent but I think they're beautiful." Lucy looked up at Freed, sniffing as she managed to stop her tears from flowing.

"How are they beautiful Freed? They show that I was weak and they're ugly." Lucy said, looking away from him again, at the peaceful faces of his team round them.

"They show that you are brave and that you fought back. They show that you were too much to contain, that you were strong during everything you've been through and I think you deserve to be here now, to do what you want and heal. You could also grow even stronger, and we can all help you with that, if you would like." Lucy's eyes widened at what he was implying, "Wouldn't you like to join Fairy Tail and become stronger, so you can fight for your family and learn about magic and true strength?" Lucy's eyes widened even further, if that was even possible, and she took in what Freed had asked and considered the possibilities and opportunities of his proposal.

"Yes.." She whispered under breath, tears of joy being brought to her eyes.

"Pardon?"Freed asked, not sure what she had said and slightly fearing her answer would be no.

"Yes!" Lucy said loudly, as the train began to slow and the three awoke to her voice, drowsy and in clumsy battle stances before butting heads with one another and falling back to their seats with a groan, Laxus turning slightly as he did so. "Oh... um... sorry?" Lucy said while Freed smiled and grabbed their travelling bags from above while allowing sometime for them to orient themselves slightly.

"Thanks Freed." Laxus said as he threw his bag over his shoulder before noticing Lucy was still wearing his coat. He also noticed that she still wasn't wearing shoes. Groaning quietly he grabbed Evergreen's travel bag from her hands while she shouted in protest and rummaged through it, finding some sandals and handing them to Lucy for her to wear. "Here." He said before turning and getting off the train.

The dress she wore was obviously Evergreen's and it was similar to Evergreen's shorter, tighter, green mini dress. The neckline of Lucy's dress dipped into her small cleavage and the dress hugged her torso. Evergreen helped her into the sandals she had packed in case the boys were up to a day at the beach while they were on their mission. Carrying Laxus' coat, Lucy left the train with Evergreen's help and they walked over to the team who, currently, sported frowns as most people made sure to avoid them as much as possible while they stood awkwardly waiting for the girls to get off the train. As Lucy and Evergreen walked up to group, Lucy handed Laxus his coat, which he threw over his shoulders after handing his bag to Freed to hold. Continuing their walk, Lucy limped as she tried to keep up with the group but found herself being left behind as they walked at their own pace.

Laxus, being the first to notice, stopped and allowed Lucy to catch up with them while around them, passers by turned to watch the group make their way to the grand guild hall on top of the hill. Lucy, self conscious of the stares, reached her hand to feel her shoulders and realised the tips of some scars were showing. Panicking slightly, Lucy Looked to Laxus with a slightly desperate look with tears forming in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around herself as they walked, attempting to position her hair to hide scars that were peeking out of the sundress.

Laxus, noticing the look she gave him, walked closer to her and opened his coat slightly for her where she gratefully hid, pressed into his side as they walked up the hill. As she did so, one of Bickslow's babies buried itself in her chest and she held it tight, nervous as to what the guild would think of her when they got there and whether or not they would abandon her and she'd be left alone again. Lucy peeked out from Laxus' coat and noticed the nearing doors before her. The huge guild hall created a huge shadow over them as they walked up to it and Lucy couldn't help but admirhall as they opened the doors loudly. Noticing everyone in the guildhall turn to look at the group, Lucy reared back and hid herself in Laxus' coat once more, attempting to not draw attention to herself as they wandered into the middle of the guild hall, Bickslow's totem leaving her arms and returning to Bickslow's side.

"Welcome back Thunder Legion! What can I get you?" a raven haired woman said as she walked up to the group, wearing a black apron with a long, navy blue dress that brushed against the floor as she approached. She was like Evergreen, beautiful.

"Hey Sara, do you know where Gramps is?" Laxus asked bluntly, not acknowledging her innocent question. Sara huffed at his blatant disregard of her before pointing to his office and returning to the bar where she caught a brunette teen trying to climb over.

"I'll take her up, you all wait down here." Laxus said before he moved forward and forced Lucy to follow as he grabbed her hand and led her up the stairs before entering the large doors that were in the centre of the upstairs balcony wall and they wandered into a maze of paperwork. At the forefront of the towers of paper laid a small, old man on his desk with a quill in his hand and a stack of papers before him that he seemed to have given up doing.

"Hey Gramps, I'm back and we found someone on our mission." Laxus then pushed Lucy forward while the small old man sat upright on his desk and scanned over Lucy, his gaze lingering on her scars. Self consciously, she quickly adjusted her dress to cover the scars peeking out of the neckline of the dress.

"Where exactly did you find her, Laxus m'boy?" The Master said while tearing his eyes away from Lucy and looking into the stormy blue eyes of his Grandson. Laxus eyes saddened and he looked at Lucy with that same sadness and a hint of pity for the small girl.

"In a dark guild's basement." Laxus said, not meeting the eyes of his Grandfather, instead looking down at the trembling form of the blonde that stood in front of him. "She had been held there for several years by the looks of the condition we found her in. We also found jars of blood in a safe hidden in the Master's office. We don't know what they were planning to use it for but we have some idea after finding these in his desk." Laxus explained, placing three keys on the desk, one browned and dirty while the others were a beautiful gold. "Freed has identified them as very rare Celestial keys-Zodiac keys and he said they were Capricorn, Cancer and-"

"Aquarius.." Lucy said quietly, cutting Laxus off and daintily picking the keys up off the desk where they sat. "My mother's keys..." She said sadly, gently stroking the keys, almost as if she was comforting them before looking up to the tiny man watching her with curiosity shining through his eyes. "My Mother was a Celestial Mage. She... was the owner of these keys before.." Lucy trailed off and tears shone in her eyes as she recalled her mother's death.

"Before..?" The master probed, needing more answers to know how the girl had stumbled upon such a fate.

"Before she was murdered. T-They came into my r-room one night a-and they... they had a knife a-and..." Lucy stuttered, unable to say it out loud. "They must have t-taken her keys before they took me a-away." Lucy said, tears blurring her vision as she stumbled through the explanation as to how the dark guild managed to come across the rare keys. Laxus stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, making her turn around and bury her face in his shirt as she sobbed, his shirt becoming damp as she cried for her mother and her heartache.

Laxus lead the crying girl over to the sofa buried under paperwork and lifted it off the sofa, placing it on the other side of the room before placing Lucy down and wrapping her in his coat while she snuggled into the pillows and sniffed as he moved back to the desk where his Grandfather stood and continued his report on the events of the S Class mission. Lucy assumed that ever S Class wizard had to do this. She watched the man before her with admiration as he recounted his battle with the Guild Master, as she watched Laxus, his stance and voice called to her as she realised that he was trying to garner attention from his Grandfather. Praise, even. He wanted to impress his Grandfather more than anything and Lucy admired him for that.

"And then we came back here with Lucy since we didn't know where she belonged." Lucy frowned at that. Where did she belong? With her Father? With Laxus? With Fairy Tail? Lucy couldn't tell and didn't know what to think. Since she was free, she should go back to her father and inform him of her being alive. She should visit her mother's grave and pay her respects to her grave as her daughter and she should become the woman her mother always wanted her to be. But what her mother always wanted was within her grasp if she stayed in Fairy Tail. She could finally be free. Free from the stuffy nobles she always used to be around, free from the duties she was expected to fulfil and free from the heartache of being in the same house her mother used to be in, live in, play in. They used to read bed time stories in her bedroom, every night... She could never sleep in that room again. They used to ride horseback in the fields behind the mansion, she couldn't look after her mother's horse that she used to love. They used to play hide and seek in every room in the mansion, every place, they had been together and she loved it. She loved the attention and she loved her mother, but now, she could never do those things again.

Lucy smiled sadly as she remembered the times spent with her mother and the laughter they had shared together and the love for each other which was unconditional. Her father could never be enough to fill that hole in her heart. "Can't I stay here?" She asked tentatively, prepared for the rejection she was sure to receive. Laxus and the master turned to face her vulnerable form on the sofa and they nodded in agreement, the Master sending her a huge smile.

"Of course you can, dear child." He said with a large grin on his face while Laxus grunted in agreement, hiding his happiness for the petite girl on the sofa. She was so young.. Yet she had gone through ten times the amount of the average person. "And I suppose these belong to you now." He said, getting off his desk and handing the girl the three keys, watching her face light up with happiness and excitement. "You can stay in the Guild's Infirmary while we get you a room at Fairy Hills and if you wanted you can work behind the bar with Sara, I'm sure she could use the hand while you train your magic." The Master said and Lucy nodded her head repeatedly while holding the keys close to her heart as she grinned with happiness, tears still shining in her eyes.

She had finally found a place where she could belong.

(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

 **I had a stroke of inspiration which is why this chapter came out so quickly so I hoped you enjoyed and please expect the next chapter next weekend!**

 **R &R**


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN FAIRY TAIL**

 **A/N:** Sorry this took so long! I had an idea for a one-shot and it wouldn't go away so I just decided to do the one-shot for now!

 **Enjoy!**

Lucy sat on a white bed in the infirmary of Fairy Tail. It had been two days since Laxus, Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow had brought her to Fairy Tail and she was still on bedrest. Lucy sighed at that thought, rubbing the sides of her head with her hands to soothe an incoming headache, and glanced around the room for the fiftieth time since she'd been put in there. The room was so white, compared to the dark, damp rooms in the place the guild members seemed to call a 'Dark Guild'. Lucy flinched as she saw flashes of the room appear before her, the infirmary constantly reverting back to the dungeon she had been acquainted with for so long. Her eyes widened when the image lingered for too long and her breath began to come in short pants as she clutched at her chest, sweat beading on her forehead.

"No..." Lucy whispered, her vision blurred with tears as she no longer saw the white infirmary, only the dungeon room, piling high with dead bodies. Curling in on herself, Lucy began to sob loudly, the feeling of the infirmary bed beneath her lost to her as she began to hyperventilate. "NO!" Lucy screamed, grasping at her hair while she screamed, hearing footsteps approaching her cell, a threat hanging clearly in the air.

"You won't escape this..." A dark voice said to her, the man's long hair covering one eye whilst the other glared at her, the blood red irises standing out in the darkness of the room. Lucy whimpered as he stalked closer to her, a threatening aura rolling off his body in waves, threatening her into succumbing to him.

"Please..." Lucy whispered, tears staining her cheeks while she attempted to back herself into a corner, placing her head on her knees and refusing to look at the scene in front of her. A hand grabbed her wrist and, reflexively, she ripped her hand from their grasp, scratching at their face.

"Lucy!" Her eyes snapped open and she almost cried in relief as she saw stormy blue eyes gazing back into her own, not red. Then she saw the scratch marks on his face, beads of blood already appearing. Lucy's eyes widened and shame and guilt began to overcome her emotions as she let tears fall, facing the ground and not daring to look at him.

"I'm sorry..." Lucy croaked, her sobs not ceasing while she brought her knees back up to her chest, closing herself away from Laxus.

"Don't apologise, Lucy, none of this is your fault." A soft voice said, Lucy looked up to see the barmaid, Sara, who usually brought her food, standing in the doorway with Bickslow, Freed and Evergreen by her side. "You don't have to feel bad for being scared. You've been through so much, and we respect that." Sara said again, smiling faintly at Lucy before nodding in the direction of Laxus and saying, "Besides, Laxus is a big boy and a little scratch won't hurt him!" She giggled before turning and leaving the group to their own devices.

"She's right you know... You have the right to feel scared after what happened. Just know, if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, we're here." Evergreen said enthusiastically, thwacking Bickslow with her fan when he snorted at her 'sappy' words. Freed just nodded, and Lucy smiled faintly, knowing that he was reserved in his own way before turning back to Laxus and reaching out to touch the scratches on his face.

"Seriously, Blondie, they'll heal, don't worry," Laxus said gruffly, making Lucy pull back her hand and pout lightly before giving him her brightest smile, all traces of her previous pain wiped from her expression. Give or take the tear stains and red eyes. Laxus gave his version of a smile back at her before patting her head and leaving, his team following after Freed gave Lucy some books to read while she was on bedrest.

Lucy opened one of the books Freed gave her and fell into the world contained in the book, a soft smile on her face as she read, remembering her lost love for books as a child. Her mother used to read to her every night and would tell her stories of the stars, knights, dragons, princesses, magic and anything in between. Lucy caressed the pages of the book fondly as the memories of her mother flooded back to her, overpowering the vision of her in her last moments.

"Hey, you hungry Lucy?" Sara said as she walked in, having finished serving the men downstairs.

"Sara? Can I go downstairs?" Lucy asked, ignoring Sara previous question. "I feel better, really, I just wanna come sit at the bar with you... or something," Lucy said, her boredom finally getting the best of her. Lucy sighed as Sara seemed to move into deep thought, her violet eyes scanned her body, noticing how Lucy seemed to be able to move freer and didn't seem to be in any pain.

"Hmm... I guess so. But if Laxus gets mad I'm blaming it on you," Sara said with a giggle, making Lucy sweatdrop before following the eccentric barmaid downstairs where she was met with tonnes of people crowding about, all having their own table with what she assumed was their teams and a few brawls were happening, making Lucy flinch as she heard skin smack against skin. "Don't worry, they're just play fighting, like puppies!" Sara exclaimed, laughing when the men looked around at that insult and sent a glare at her because of their wounded man pride. Lucy giggled at their interaction before following Sara to the bar, where she placed Lucy on one of the seats.

"So, do you want anything? I make a killer milkshake," Sara said, baring her arm muscles in a feeble attempt to make Lucy laugh. Giggling lightly, Lucy nodded.

"Can I have a strawberry milkshake?" She asked, watching as Sara nodded and began to make her way into the kitchen, leaving Lucy to fiddle with her fingers while she waited for Sara to come back with the ingredients. As she waited, Lucy spun in her chair and watched the guildhall silently, smiling at the interactions between guildmates and cringing at the small fight that broke out in a corner with a petite bluenette and a brute of a guy, whom the bluenette was currently holding him by the hair as they both pulled each other's hair. Lucy giggled as the girl mounted the teen and pulled as hard as she could on his hair.

"I TOLD YOU TO STOP CALLING ME SHRIMP YOU PORCUPINE!" The bluenette screamed, making the teen yell out in pain and clutch his ears, making Lucy tilt her head in confusion. Lucy shook her head as she turned away from the duo and scanned the guild, looking for anything else interesting.

"Here's your milkshake, Lucy!" Sara called out, sliding a milkshake across the bar to her and making Lucy drool at the sweet smell of the strawberries before grasping at the straw and taking a huge sip. Using her finger, Lucy took a little bit of the cream on top and popped it into her mouth, moaning at the sweetness as she did so.

"This is so good Sara!" Lucy said happily, grabbing the straw again and sipping the milkshake, making Sara giggle and nod, before turning to serve another man at the bar.

Lucy's head snapped to the guild's entrance as she heard the guild doors crash open with enough force to know the people standing near the doors off their feet. Hearing Sara's nervous giggle, she turned to the woman and she smiled at her nervously before slowly sliding back into the kitchen. A bead of sweat formed on Lucy's head at her behaviour. She turned again to look at the entrance, finding four people stood at the entrance, all of them scanning the guild before they walked inside. Laxus, Freed and Evergreen began to make their way to the infirmary, Bickslow stopping to go to the bar. Where Lucy was currently sat.

Bickslow's eyes widened at her presence at the bar and Lucy just smiled at him nervously while he regained his composure, straightening his visor.

"So, girlie, what're you doing outta bed? Dontcha know what 'bedrest' means?" Bickslow joked, his eyes nervously darting to the infirmary as he spoke, obviously wondering about his team's reaction to Lucy's disappearance. Lucy also began to feel nervous as she watched the team disappear up the stairs to the infirmary.

"Well, Sara said I could come downstairs and have a milkshake," Lucy explained, watching Sara waltz back out of the kitchen, carrying a bowl of strawberries and a mug of beer.

"Here ya go Bicks!" Sara said, sliding the mug over to a smirking Bickslow before turning to Lucy. "Here, thought you'd like some strawberries to go with your milkshake." She explained, ignoring Bickslow completely as she turned to the petite blonde sat at the bar.

"Thanks, Sara!" Lucy said happily, beginning to indulge herself with strawberries while taking small sips of her milkshake in between. Then, Lucy, Bickslow and Sara paused to wince when they heard Laxus, Freed and Evergreen shout and there footsteps thundering into the guild. Bickslow cackled when he saw the panicked expression on their faces and Lucy held back a smile as they entered the main guild hall.

"Where's Lucy?!" Evergreen said, scanning the guild hall. Lucy laughed nervously with Bickslow and watched as Laxus' eyes snapped to her position at the bar, sniffing the air. His eyes narrowed at Bickslow's ecstatic demeanour and Lucy giggled as she watched their 'fearless' leader walk up to the bar, his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Do you not know the meaning of bed rest?" He asked incredulously, shooting a glare at Lucy and Bickslow, the latter beginning to laugh nervously.

"Well, Sara said I could come down and sit at the bar with her..." Lucy trailed off, not willing to throw her friend under the bus completely as she watched Laxus turn to Sara who acted like she hadn't acknowledged his presence. "But I was the one who asked! I wanted to see what the guild hall was like," Lucy explained, her eyes widened as she realised her tone and she quickly flinched back, looking at the floor. Noticing this, Laxus sighed, bringing his hand up to rest on the back of his head, and shot one last glare at the barmaid and his friend, they both quickly looked away nervously.

"Fine, just hurry up, we don't want the old hag getting mad." Laxus explained, referring to the healer, Porlyusica who had healed Lucy. Lucy nodded quickly, a frown still on her face as she continued holding a staring match with the floor. Laxus' face contorted into a scowl, aimed at Sara before he turned and made his way to the second floor, Bickslow following behind her after leaving a few of his babies at the bar to entertain the sulky blonde. Lucy spun in her seat, facing the bar again, and began to eat her strawberries, a sour look on her face as the small wooden totems circled her head. Noticing the sour look on her face, Sara sauntered over, a smile appearing on her face as she watched the totems dance around while she watched Lucy eat her strawberries.

"Ya know, they're doing that for attention," Sara stated, gesturing to the ecstatic totems as Lucy looked up, following the older barmaid's gaze to the small, wooden totems. "Why don't you play with them? They like having a partner in crime, but Bickslow looks busy right now," Sara winked at the blonde, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she watched Lucy follow the totems away from the bar, and into the mess of a guild hall. Looking up at the second floor, Sara watched as Laxus walked up to the railing, watching the petite blonde for a moment before turning his gaze sharply to her.

"Oi! Get me a beer!" He grunted, watching his guild mate's eyes narrow at him, he grinned and leaned over the railing.

"NOT UNTIL YOU'RE TWENTY ONE LAXUS! I'VE TOLD YOU THIS A HUNDRED TIMES!" Laxus scowled at the barmaid before turning around and grudgingly returning to the table his team occupied, Bickslow laughing at him as he huffed.

Then, a scream was heard from the other side of the guild hall, followed by tinkling laughter as the sound of soft feet padding on the floor resonated through the guild. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" A female voice shouted, his guild mates around him laughing without abandon. Lucy emerged from under a table, followed by three totems; the fourth nestled in a cake. A strawberry cake. Lucy laughed as she slid along the guild's wooden floor, coming to a stop in front of the bar as she leaped up to her seat, out of breath and laughing recklessly. "MY POOR CAKE!" The same voice wailed, clearly mourning the sweet treat as the clank of armour sounded and a red haired girl collapsed to the ground before leaping up and beginning to chase the taunting totem around the guildhall, waving a sword in the air as she attempted to shred the poor thing.

The low cackle of Bickslow sounded and Lucy watched as he summoned the totems to her side, sending a lopsided grin to the girl as she laughed, giving him a relieved smile as he returned to his seat, the red haired girl already sat down with another slice of cake. Happily, Lucy ate her strawberries, sipping at her strawberry milkshake before she got up and began to walk up the stairs to the second floor.

"Hi," Lucy said nervously, waiting for a sign from the group that they had acknowledged her presence. Lucy smiled lightly as she saw Evergreen spin in her seat and beckon her over, but frowned as she saw Laxus didn't even open his eyes. "Hey, Bickslow, what are their names?" She said, gesturing to his totems, not noticing as the table's eyes widened as they turned to Bickslow, waiting for his answer. Bickslow himself was not faring any better, he had choked on his food as he turned to the blonde and watched as her smile slowly faded and she watched confusedly as the group began to stare at her. Bickslow was the first to snap out of his stupor as he told the totems to line up on the table and introduced them one by one.

"Poppo, Pippi, Pappa, Puppu, Peppe." He said, gesturing to each of them in turn as they each did a small twirl in the hopes of getting the blonde to smile.

"They're nice names!" Lucy said, smiling brightly at the group. Bickslow nodded as the rest shook themselves out of their stupor and nodded approvingly at Lucy, Laxus still sitting with his eyes closed. "I'll go back to the infirmary now, sorry to have caused trouble," Lucy said, nervously glancing at Laxus, expecting some snide words to add to her unease. Receiving none, Lucy nodded to the group as a whole, turning back to the infirmary doors and letting herself in.

As Lucy entered, alone, she suddenly felt a rush of emotions, her heart clenching as she finally thought about her situation here, her mother's death, all those innocent girls being tortured, sitting in the dark for years, being experimented on, being tortured herself. Lucy collapsed to her knees, fat tears rolling down her face as pain lanced through her heart, her earlier happiness forgotten. Lucy's lip trembled as she sobbed, clutching at her chest in an attempt to ease the pain while she cried out. She wanted her mother. She wanted her mother's soft touch, her comforting voice, the warmth of her arms, and that radiant smile that always told her everything was fine. Lucy gasped loudly at the pain, her mother's death flashing before her eyes while she cried. For a second time, Lucy watched them slit her throat, her porcelain skin ruined. She watched the blood drip from her pink lips, her smile nonexistent. She watched her mother's broken body fall to the floor, unable to lift her arms, let alone grace her daughter with a hug as she died painfully.

"Mama..." Lucy whimpered, curling into a ball, shivering at the gory scene replaying in front of her eyes. "I can't do this alone..." She whispered, her heart ripping in two as she realised it. She was completely alone, and she couldn't do anything about it.

Lucy didn't know how long she sat there crying, only knowing that multiple people had come and gone into the infirmary, all attempting to soothe her with their voices. Raising her head from its position on her arms, Lucy looked outside, seeing the moon high in the sky. A ghost of a smile appeared onto Lucy's lips as she saw the stars, her eyes widening in awe as she saw the different constellations and planets and instantly moved closer, as if on instinct, to sit in the chair near the window. The stars soothed her fragile body as she gazed out into the night, not bothering to wipe her tears away as she stared, her eyes darting across the sky as she saw all the different stars that her mother used to show her every night.

"Lucy? Are you alright?" A soft voice filtered through her thoughts and she turned to find both Evergreen and Sara in the room, standing in the door way cautiously, as if debating whether or not they should come closer.

"I'm okay now," She said, sending a sad smile to the duo as they walked into the room, Sara moving to get some more blankets out of the closet as she changed Lucy's sheet. Lucy grimaced as she saw the blood on the blankets and glanced down to find that one of her bandages was covered in blood. "Hey, Sara, I think I opened this wound again?" She said, poking tentatively at the bloody bandage before carefully getting out of the chair she was curled up in and sitting on the bed.

"Oh, I'll re-wrap it Lucy," Evergreen said, allowing Sara to continue changing the sheets as she moved Lucy back to the chair and began to unwrap her torso. Lucy watched as Evergreen winced and felt her face heat in embarrassment and shame as Evergreen cleaned her wound and re wrapped her torso, making sure it wouldn't bleed through again.

"Thanks Evergreen!" Lucy said, before getting up and testing her flexibility in the bandages.

"That's alright Lucy," She said, "You should get some rest; it's nearly one in the morning." Evergreen stated glancing at the clock before yawning. "I'll see you tomorrow." Evergreen turned and left the room, leaving Lucy with Sara as the latter offered the blonde some chocolate milk before bed. Lucy thanked her enthusiastically before she took the cold glass out her hands and drank half the glass.

"You have to show me how to make milkshakes like that one day!" Lucy said, smiling brightly as she basked in the after taste of the sweet chocolate before sitting on her bed.

"I'll show you when you start working behind the bar!" Sara said, smiling at the blonde's enthusiasm before she nodded to the clock. "Well, I have to go; I need to fix up the house before my husband gets back from his job with the kids." Lucy nodded, understanding her need to tend to her family and smiled sadly at the thought of her own mother doing the same, or at least helping the servants get ready for her father's return.

Lucy sighed as she watched the raven-haired beauty leave the room, before she burrowed herself into her blankets. As she recounted the events of the day, Lucy frowned as she realised she hadn't really done much helping, like she had intended to do if she stayed at the guild. Well, there's always tomorrow, hopefully. Lucy shook off her morbid thoughts before she felt a wave of exhaustion hit her and she fell asleep, unable to hold her brown orbs open for much longer. In doing so, she once again fell into the darkness, the never-ending void filling her as though it was always there, waiting for her to close her eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN FAIRY TAIL**

 **A/N:** Got this out before Christmas! This deserves commendments!

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Lucy woke with a start, sweat beading on her forehead as she gasped, shooting up in the white infirmary bed and sending a pang of pain to her head. Cradling her head, Lucy attempted to soothe the new found pain before she laid back down, resting her head on the soft, plush pillows once more, her heart racing. The heat of the blankets covering her fragile body created warmth, a warmth that she couldn't ignore as she kicked the blankets off her, sweat sliding down her forehead. Still breathing heavily, Lucy looked out the window and saw the stars still in the sky and got up to go sit by the window, entranced by the twinkling that caught her eyes. As she reached the window, Lucy sat down on the small chair, pulling a white pillow to her body for comfort while she decided to forego sleep and just look out to the stars, fond memories of her mother rose and brought a soft smile to the teen's face. However, that soft smile quickly turned to a frown as she watched the stars slowly disappear from sight as a cloud passed over Magnolia, the dark clouds seemingly taunting her as each star slowly disappeared, as if someone had just put out their fires.

Then, a flash of light followed by a loud rumble from the sky startled Lucy and she quickly scrambled off the floor, looking out the window in curiosity as the sky seemed to split open and rain down light upon Magnolia. Fascinated, she went to sit at the window again and watched as lightning danced down from the sky, each hitting different spots from the first. Then, Lucy saw it, the tall figure on one of the rooftops, absorbing the veins of light as they crashed into the Earth.

"Laxus..." Lucy whispered, her eyes widening in awe as she watched him absorb every strike of lightning the sky offered to him like he was a God. She gasped as she watched a strike of lightning directly hit him and leapt to her feet, pressing her hands against the glass before she watched Laxus absorb the strike, seemingly uninjured as lightning danced across his skin. She couldn't help herself as she sighed in relief and instead took to watching the sky once more, assuming he was absorbing energy from the lightning. As the sky split open once more, Lucy smiled, then frowned instantly as rain fell harder from the sky, blurring her view as it slid down the window and she felt a feeling of concern wash over her as she realised, Laxus must be cold. Quickly getting off the chair next to the window, she rushed out of the infirmary, stopping to grab a random coat from the coat rack, realising it was Bickslow's, she grinned and quickly ran through the guild hall, ignoring the pain she could feel in her back. She had learned to block out the pain, too used to the shooting pain on her back, and attempted to hide her pain from her attackers, knowing it would make them irate. Then, Lucy heard the familiar high pitched voice coming from right behind her and Lucy turned to find one of Bickslow's totems dancing around her, following her.

"Lucy! Why ya got Bickslow's coat?" The totem asked, its carefree attitude telling her that it didn't really care why she had it on.

"I'm going outside to find Laxus... He must be cold," I said, my eyes darting to the ground for a second while she heard the totem cackle, reminiscent of the large seith mage.

"I'll come too!" The totem said, flying into her arms while Lucy nodded, smiling at the totem's concern for her and made her way out of the Guildhall, going unnoticed by the occupants. Not many people were there, as it was clear that it was at least two am and Lucy was relieved at that fact, not wanting to have to sneak through the guild hall when it was full, considering the guild's rowdiness.

"Ok," Lucy said, pulling the totem close to her chest while she walked out into the cold night, rain blinding her slightly before she managed to pull up the hood of the coat, her hands hidden in the sleeves due to the sheer size of it. Running in the direction she thought she saw Laxus, Lucy blocked out the pain the cold air seemed to make more intense as she ran before a numbing feeling settled over her and she ran with more speed, wanting to find Laxus and watch from up close what he was doing with the lightning.

As she drew near to a certain building, she shrieked in fear as lightning struck, a window near her shattering from the force, and quickly crouched to the ground, holding the totem close to her as she waited for the fear to subside. What she didn't expect, was large hands to wrap around her forearms and force her to her feet.

Lucy's eyes widened and she struggled, letting the small totem fall to the floor and her hood to fall while she dealt with the onslaught of rain blinding her vision and dampening her hair. Then, a deep, familiar voice broke her out of her struggling and she froze, looking up at her kidnapper.

"Why are you out here Blondie?" Laxus said, his electric blue eyes piercing hers and she gasped.

"Laxus, um, I wanted to bring you a coat or something or bring you inside. It's cold so, um, you might get sick," Luy muttered, stumbling over her words while Laxus released her arms from her grip and she instantly moved to wipe the water away from her face while she stared up at the brooding blonde.

"I don't get sick from storms, Blondie," Laxus stated matter-of-factly, watching her eyes widen before she face-palmed. Lightning mage. Stupid.

"Oh, yea..." Lucy said, then shuffled her feet nervously before a shiver wracked her body and she sniffled, water dripping off the end of her nose. "I'll go back to the guild then," Lucy mumbled, her face flushed because of the cold. Lucy turned and began her treck back to the guild, leaving the lightning mage behind as she walked, not bothering to pull up her hood as she watched the small totem begin to follow in front of her, leading the way back to the guild.

"Blondie, you can't strain your injuries like this, let me help you get back to the guild," Laxus said gruffly, his harsh tone making Lucy flinch as she turned to look at him, struggling to see him through the blur of the rain.

"Ok..." Lucy replied hesitantly, walking back to him and letting out a squeak as he pulled her to his side, wrapping part of his coat around her as he watched her shiver. Lucy smiled lightly as she felt the fur lining the coat tickle her nose and snuggled into it, breathing in the scent of pinewood and wet grass. It suited him. "Thank you..." Lucy said, breaking the silence between the two before Laxus began walking again, his large steps making it difficult for the petite blonde to keep up. As they approached the guild doors, the totem in Lucy's arms quickly flew out and into the guild doors, pushing them open for the duo and alerting those inside of the entrance of the two blondes. As soon as they entered the warm guild hall, Lucy began to shiver in cold sniffle once more, the contrast of the cold water on her skin to the warm air inside making the cold even more prominent on her skin, freezing her to her bones.

"Go upstairs, Blondie, Sara will bring you a towel and something hot to drink." Nodding, the smaller blonde scurried off through the crowd, ignoring the questioning looks from the guild members. As soon as she reached the infirmary, still with Bickslow's coat on, she carefully peeled the coat off as it had stuck to her skin and began to rub her arms, attempting to bring warmth into her shivering body. Placing the coat carefully on the back of a chair, Lucy moved to sit on the bed, wiping her face as she curled in on herself, shivering silently.

"Lucy? I brought you a towel and a hot chocolate?" Sara's voice filtered through the door before the raven-haired woman walked inside, placing the mug of hot chocolate on the side before walking up to her with a towel. "Lisanna gave you some new clothes to wear," she said, holding up a light blue sweater with some black leggings and smiled before moving to help her off the bed. Lucy looked at her questionably, wondering who Lisanna was and wracking her brain to find the face she was looking for. Seeing the lost look on Lucy's face, Sara elaborated. "She's the one with the short, white hair, remember?"

"Oh yea," Lucy said, an image of a petite white-haired girl with blue eyes popping into her mind. Sara sent a quick smile to her before helping her remove the white dress she was currently wearing and wrapping her in the pink, fluffy towel.

"Why did you go out in that storm? It's dangerous you know?" Sara said, wrapping a smaller towel around her blonde hair to stop it dripping and beginning to wipe down her body. "There we go."

"I saw Laxus out there... And I thought he might be cold..." Lucy mumbled, finally realising how stupid she sounded. Sara snorted, making Lucy pout slightly before letting a laugh escape her.

"Laxus isn't affected by the weather," She stated, grinning at the blonde's misfortune before picking up the blue sweater and helping Lucy pull it over her head. "He's a lightning mage, after all!" She continued, giggling as she noticed the blonde's flushed cheeks, which she attempted to blame on the cold. Handing Lucy some new pants, Sara turned around while the smaller girl changed her underwear, tossing the wet ones on top of the dress. Turning back around, Sara helped the girl into some leggings before letting the blonde sit on the bed again.

"Is that Bickslow's coat?" Sara asked, gesturing to the navy coat hanging over the chair. Lucy nodded slowly, wondering what Bickslow's reaction would be.

"I picked it up randomly on my way out because I don't have a coat," She explained, watching Sara nod with an amused smile on her face.

"You know it's, like, two am right? You should get some rest, Porlyusica's coming to see you in the morning," Lucy nodded, cringing at the thought of the pink-haired demon coming to visit and yawned, signifying how tired she actually was. "I think Porlyusica is bringing in a healer from another guild to help with the remaining wounds, Master's orders. Afraid we can't do anything about the scars though." Sara frowned, gauging the blonde's reactions as her face fell, a dejected look appearing.

"It's fine... I guess the scars will help remind me to... not let myself get into that kind of situation again?" Although it sounded more like a question than a reassurance, Sara nodded and pulled out a hairbrush, letting the blonde's hair free from the towel.

"You know, I think my husband is returning tomorrow as well. I'd like him to meet you, he'd like you I'm sure. He's a celestial mage, I thought he could help you with your training when he gets back."

Lucy's face lit up, her eyes widening before a broad grin threatened to split her face in two appeared on her face, making Sara smile brightly back. "Really? That's awesome!" Lucy said, giving the older woman a hug before allowing the raven-haired woman to help her into the bed, Sara pulling the blankets up to the blonde's chin. Smiling tenderly at the barmaid, Lucy sighed softly and flipped onto her stomach, as Porlyusica had told her to sleep, wrapping her arms around the pillow.

"Goodnight Lucy," Sara said, picking up the discarded hot chocolate, assuming the girl didn't want it after all and walked out of the infirmary, shutting the door carefully behind her.

Lucy slowly closed her eyes, hiding her face in the pillow as she drifted off, exhaustion catching up with her after running around Magnolia in the rain.

* * *

"Morning Lucy!" Lucy awoke to the sounds of voices in the infirmary and instantly shot up out of bed, and looked around frantically, having gained a sense of deja vu from the multiple male voices. "You okay?" Laxus grumbled, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall, Evergreen and Freed sitting in the chairs next to him with Bickslow sat on the end of the bed, his babies seemingly playing a stacking game on his lap.

"I-I'm fine," Lucy said, cursing herself for stuttering as Freed looked up from his book and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Lucy, you do not need to lie to us. We are your allies," Freed stated, looking back down to his book as he awaited her answer.

"I know. I just... Don't wanna talk about it," She replied, watching the three nod in acceptance before the door opened and three more people walked in.

"Morning Lucy, this is Chelia from Lamia Scale. The Sky God Slayer, she specialises in healing magic." The master explained, gesturing to the girl in front of him, she looked about ten years old with her pink hair pulled into bunches and a pink dress on that reached her knees.

"Hi, Lucy, Master Makarov didn't tell me much about your situation..." Chelia trailed off before continuing, seemingly needing a moment to gather her words. "But I'd be happy to help!" She finished with a bright smile directed at the blonde before making her way to the bedside.

"Hi, Chelia... Um, is it okay if everyone else leaves for this?" Lucy asked timidly, looking down at her fisted hands in her lap in shame while she waited for an answer.

"Of course, child." The master said, ushering Laxus and his team out of the room, leaving Lucy with Porlyusica and Chelia.

"We do have our own healer, Wendy, but she is unavailable at the moment," Porlyusica grumbled, clearly irritated at the fact that she now has to work with Chelia instead. "Lucy, if you would lie on your stomach for me?" She asked, watching intently as the blonde nodded and moved onto her stomach, not missing the wince from the girl as the pain made itself apparent. Chelia carefully pulled the blanket from the bed, folding it and placing it on the chair next to Lucy's bed. Then, she returned to the bedside and lifted the back of Lucy's blue jumper, revealing her white bandages, dark patches of blood standing out from the otherwise pristine bandages. Porlusica moved forward at this point, lifting Lucy so she was now kneeling on the bed and helped the younger girl remove the bandages carefully. "Did you go anywhere yesterday?" Porlusica asked pointedly as she removed the last bloodstained bandage, knowing they shouldn't have started bleeding again if the blonde was on bed rest.

"Nope! Nowhere at all!" Lucy replied, too quickly given the sharp look from both healers, as she was helped back onto her stomach by Porlusica.

A small gasp was heard above her and Lucy assumed the girl didn't usually deal with stuff like her wounds. Then, a refreshing sensation spread through Lucy's body, the older blonde letting out a contented smile as she felt warmth spreading. Before it started to burn. It happened far too quickly for the blonde to warn the younger girl, instead, she resorted to letting out a blood-curdling scream as she jerked away from the healing hands, falling off the bed and landing hard on the floor. Whacking her head off the bedside table as she fell. Quickly, Lucy got up, sending a betrayed look to the younger girl and the older woman, before her eyes snapped to the door as Bickslow burst into the room, followed by Evergreen, Freed, Laxus and his babies. Tears rolled down her face in hot rivers as she pressed her injured back against the wall, looking accusingly at everyone in the room. Finally, Lucy was forced to glance to the door, registering the Master running in, followed by the raven-haired barmaid.

"What happened Porly?" The master said, looking to the expressionless healer as an irritated look covered her face.

"She can't heal her. This was a waste of time, she needs to heal naturally. Those wounds were made with a magical item, a cursed whip of some sort. It blocks out all healing," She explained, before taking the little girl by the hand who had a guilty expression on her face and tears in her eyes as she was pulled out of the room. "That ice mage will take the healer home." She said, walking out the room with the Sky God Slayer in tow.

"Lucy, it's okay, that wasn't meant to happen, I'm sure." The Master said softly, watching the girl quietly sob in pain in the corner.

"It hurt." She stated, sniffling. Watching as the Master nodded in understanding.

"I know, how about we get some ice to numb the pain for you?" He said, glancing at Sara, who nodded slowly and reluctantly left the room to go get some ice from the bar. "How about you get back onto the bed?" Lucy nodded, wiping her eyes before moving to get up. She gasped in agony as a sharp pain enveloped her and she collapsed again, shaking in pain as she laid on the ground. Then, she felt strong arms lift her, careful of her wounds as they placed her stomach first on the bed.

"They'll stop hurting soon, we just have to wait a little longer now, Blondie." A gruff voice said, as he turned and left the room, his team following and Bickslow's babies staying behind to entertain the blonde.

"You know, our very own celestial mage is coming home in a few hours, why don't you get some rest so you're ready to meet him when he gets here?" The Master said softly, watching as the blonde nodded while Sara returned into the room, carrying a bag of ice and a towel and she carefully cleaned the blonde's wounds with the wet towel and then placed the bag of ice on her back, the soothing feeling of the ice spreading across her back. "Take care, Lucy." The master said while Lucy slowly closed her eyes, watching the short man's form leave the room with squinted eyes before she closed them fully, drifting off into unconsciousness. **  
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 **Hope you all enjoyed! Not gonna lie, this was totally a filler chapter xP**


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